Yami is Life
by Liona Skycat
Summary: He was to have been perfect, but since when has anything created by humans stayed that way? Confusion. Anger. Escape. Flee. That's when he met Yami. Revised
1. Intrada

Yami is Life

****

Disclaimer: No ownies. No money. No sue.

A/N: Stuffles… Shounen-ai/yaoi. Yami/Yugi, Bakura/Ryou and possibly Seto/Joey. AU, OOC-ness, will be using mostly American-type names, cause tis be the version I get. Some swearing!

I have no idea if the experiments can exist in real life. I doubt it.

Rewrite!

Intrada:

            "Mr. Pegasus, welcome to Sennen Lab level 5, Biological Weapons," the scientist spoke. "Do you wish to proceed with your inspection?"

            The President of SennenCorp smirked, pushing a lock of silver hair behind his ear. "Yes, I do."

            The scientist turned, moving down a stark white hall reeking of disinfectant, discreetly casting a glance over his shoulder at the man who paid him. Bubbles of disgust welled up within him as he took in the aristocrat, decked out in his expensive red suit and black shoes, strutting about as if he owned the place.

            …So technically he _did_ own the place. But that didn't mean the bastard should just pop in whenever he felt like it with no notice! The scientist was grateful that he headed the fifth level, and not the first. Oh how he loathed the rich and how they thought they could do whatever they pleased… If it weren't for his husband, he'd have left this job long ago.

            "If you'll just stop here, I'll show you the first project," the scientist spoke. He stood by a large window in the wall, covered by a thick sheet of metal. Activating a keypad next to the window, the metal slid aside revealing a large chamber, as bleak and white as the hallway.

            "Project #563, codename: Hive Mind. A community of genetically engineered microorganisms that work together to act as a single entity, much like the cells of our body. Each organism can exist and operate separately, allowing them to either separate into a virtually undetectable cloud or they can form into a single being with mass."

            Pegasus watched with mild interest as a dark blob began to appear in midair within the test chamber, eventually forming a sphere, which then proceeded to shift into a cube, and finally a sharp-edged blade shape before once again dissipating.

            "We're still perfecting the process by which we control them," the scientist spoke, the metal sheet sliding back into place. "But once completed, these organisms would be the perfect tool for espionage and sabotage. Shall we continue?"

            "Please."

            The scientist's eyes narrowed slightly, but he managed to keep the annoyed look off his face. It wouldn't do any good to irritate his employer. "The next project is #565, codename: Bl-"

            "Come now," Pegasus spoke suddenly. "I didn't come here to bother with these insignificant projects. You know what I'm really here for."

            "Sir?" the scientist questioned, playing dumb. "I don't know what you're talking about."

            He knew very well what the man was talking about. It was the pride and joy of Sennen Labs, a combined effort of the Biological Weapons and Psychological Departments. The most sophisticated genetic prototype he knew to have been created, and the most expensive and extensive project the Lab had ever undertaken. The simple process of _creating_ it had taken decades, the experiment having started long before he had been hired as Head Scientist of Level 5.

            The President of SennenCorp smirked, "I believe you call it project #4-580?"

            "Ah yes, that experiment," the scientist acknowledged, nodding curtly. He once again led the way down the hallway, turning left at a fork. Their destination was reached in the form of a reinforced metal door. He quickly inputted a password into the keypad and the door opened with a _whoosh_.

            They entered upon a room filled with humming of computers and the low drone of conversation, the chamber dominated by a larger viewing window that filled an entire wall. Six other scientists occupied the room, four at computers and two monitoring the window. All of them snapped to attention as they caught site of their Level Head and President.

            "Welcome, sir!" a woman greeted.

            The newcomers moved to the window, to look upon the chamber beyond. It was fairly small and sparsely furnished holding only a futon, a holographic game board and a toilet. But it was the room's sole occupant that drew the attention of all.

            "Project 4-580," the Head Scientists spoke. "Codename: Game King."

            Large, violet eyes lifted from a game of chess to peer almost directly at the viewers, as though seeing through the barrier. Impossible, as the glass was one-way. It was a boy, rather small, with pale skin having been touched only by those lights that shone from the ceiling. He was completely exposed, wearing nothing and completely devoid of all hair.

            "It is one of the most perfect weapons ever created," one of the scientists spoke. "Highly intelligent with the capacity to learn rapidly and develop. Stronger, faster and more resilient than any human, with magnified senses of touch, hearing, sight, scent and taste to the point it can maneuver just as well in pitch blackness as in light. Highly accelerated healing abilities and a phenomenally high pain threshold. It can survive for an hour without breathing, thirty-one days without drinking water and reaching two and a half months without food. If giving the proper information it can calculate possibilities to an accuracy bordering on pre-cognition. It has the potential to develop strong telekinetic abilities. It is trained in most known forms of combat, more than a thousand forms of combat and the use of any weapon or vehicle known to man.

            "After creating it, we strictly regulated the information that was passed to the Game King, isolating it from any human contact, our only contact with it through speakers. As it has the ability to develop connections and adopt and create morals, we have kept it from receiving any of the socialization a regular human child would. Currently it knows nothing of humans, gender, culture or the existence of a world beyond this portion of the lab."

            The Head Scientist took up the explanation, "There are only four rules by which it lives its life and understands the world. Need Air, Need Water, Need Food."

            "And the fourth?" Pegasus inquired.

            "Is what allows us to control what it does completely," the scientist answered. "The Doctors are Life."


	2. Never

**Yami is Life**

Disclaimer: I should make up a disclaimer song. All "These are not my characters, summat, summat, summat, I only made this plot, and stuff and things!" ...maybe not then.

A/N: Stuffles... Shounen-ai/yaoi. Yami/Yugi, Bakura/Ryou and possibly Seto/Joey. AU, OOC-ness, will be using mostly American-type names, cause tis be the version I get. Some swearing!

Three cheers to Erckie (Look at the A/N, t'will be shounen-ai. ) and Latius gang. Only ones to review the rewrite. I cry. Heh, nah. Thankies.

Man... Yugi's lack of gender-distinction is hard to write and understand sometimes... Ah well!

Lastly, I find it highly unfair that I've been stuck on Angel Corrupted's next chapter for months, and then I up and write this in under three hours! Bah... stupid writer's block.

Rewrite!

Never:

The Head Scientist stared down at his charge, the violet-eyed boy playing – and winning – his 24th game of chess that hour. The computer simulation was no match for the project's intellect, there was a reason they had called it 'Game King'.

He was alone in the observation room, all other scientists having retired for a time. It was a familiar situation, just him, the computers and the project. It was only when he was alone, when there was no one else to see or hear, to tell of what he doing, that he could talk to it. _Really_ talk. And it was during these times that he taught it things, things that it was strictly forbidden to know.

He taught it about the Earth, geology, biology, civilization. He taught it the existence of 'self' and 'others', of 'you' and 'me' and 'I', and that it could never tell the other doctors what he had told it. He didn't teach it morals, or try to implant ideas in its head, no, he just gave it enough knowledge that it might survive in the outside world, though it didn't yet understand what the outside world was. And by teaching it he gained something that placed him above the other doctors, who were obeyed because 'the doctors are life', something beyond simple dependence. He gained loyalty.

It was sabotage. He knew it well, and he knew that if he were ever caught at it the consequences would probably be grave. Yet he still did it, without really knowing why. He told himself that it was out of spite of his employer, the rich bastard that thought he could get whatever he wanted just by flashing enough money. He told himself that he did it for personal gain, that having the loyalty of a super-human weapon was worth the risk. But there was a voice far in the back of his mind that told him that he did it for his husband. It told him that what he was doing was wrong, that it was a he, a boy that deserved friends and a family and not to be stuck in a lab all his life... it told him that he did what he did so that when he went home at night he could look his husband in the eye. It was that voice that was making him do what he was about to do.

He reached for the intercom.

"Hello."

Bright violet eyes lifted up to the source of the sound, glittering with warmth and childish joy. It didn't smile, it had never seen how. "Hello, Doctor."

"I'm leaving," the head scientist said. It never did to be subtle with the project, it didn't really understand the nuances of human speech – though it was learning – with a tendency take everything literally and it was best to be blunt with it. He had found it tended to get frustrated otherwise.

"Leaving?" it asked, eyes widening in incomprehension.

"Yes. I am being transferred to another facility," he answered. "I'm going away."

"Away... away where?" Confusion swam thicker within those bright pools of amethyst. "I do not understand."

The scientist snorted. "I've told you about the world, haven't I? The planet Earth? Away is another point on this planet that isn't here."

It had always had difficulty understanding the existence of other places, beyond the lab. It knew with its mind that they existed because he'd told it so, but not with its... its _soul_. Understandable, since it had never been anywhere other than here.

"So... if you're not going to be here... but away... you won't... I won't talk with you anymore?" it questioned.

"Correct. Another doctor will take my place."

"Oh..." It seemed sad at that thought, though it did not frown or pout.

Another being would have asked why, but it wasn't in the project's nature to question those it thought of as life. He would have to remedy that if it were to survive outside the lab one day.

"I need to tell you some things before I leave, things that you _have_ to remember, understand?"

"Yes, Doctor," it answered. "Understood."

"First of all, ask questions. The more you know, the better. Always know as much about your situation as you can. Second, know what's yours and keep it. Like that futon, it belongs to you and no one has the right to take it from you. Not even the doctors."

"But – "

"Just listen! People that take things from others without permission are bad. As are those who hurt you."

"Hurt?" It was confused again. "What is 'hurt'?"

"Hurt... to cause pain. Pain isn't something you're familiar with, though you have felt it. Do you remember when the doctors were seeing how long you could go without food or water? Do you remember how it felt?"

The project tilted its head. "Somewhat."

"That is a type of pain. Don't worry, it's something that when you feel it, you'll recognize it. _Never_ let anyone hurt you. Now, do you remember everything I said?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"Then, goodbye."

"But Docto-"

He had already cut the intercom and was quickly erasing from the computer logs that he had ever been there. Then, without a backwards glance, he was gone.

The project sat on the futon, no, _its_ futon, and stared up at where the doctors' voices came from, his question unanswered. Staring down at the chessboard it repeated it to itself, "But if the doctors were the ones who caused pain back then... does that make them bad, now?"

And without anyone there to teach it, the Game King learned something new.

Doubt.

* * *

Light poured in the bedroom window, casting its glow over a floor scattered with dirty clothes and bits of games and puzzles, the beam of sunlight the only illumination in an otherwise dark room. Time passed, and the patch of brightness slowly inched its way towards a bed, on which a mass of blankets lay. It was so silent that you could almost hear the dust motes floating in the sunbeam.

"Yami!"

The silence shattered, and the pile of blankets shuddered, before settling down.

"YAMI!" The noise came again, this time louder.

The pile grunted loudly, shifted some more and fell off the bed, proceeding to become still once more.

The bedroom door slammed open. "Atemu Yami Motou! Wake up!"

The mass of blankets mumbled something along the lines of "No donkeys... baked a pineapple... 'm not Mr. Darcy..."

The short man in the doorway glared down at the pile with large violet eyes, blowing a strand of grey hair from his eyes. Approaching the mass he grabbed the edge of a blanket and _pulled_. The pile unraveled and divested a rather rumpled looking teen on the floor.

The teenager bolted into a sitting position and screamed, "My muffins are burning!"

Blinking to clear his vision he turned to stare at the old man. "...Grampa?"

The violet-eyed man sighed in exasperation. "You are by far the worst morning person I've ever seen, Yami."

The teen flicked reddish-purple eyes to his bedside clock. "... 's only 11:15..."

"And Joey has been waiting downstairs for almost half an hour for you."

"Joey...?" Yami questioned, before his eyes widened it sudden comprehension. "The camping trip!"

Suddenly, the sluggish teen became a flurry of action, ushering his grandfather out of the room and proceeding to dress.

Sugoroku Motou sighed again. It was a good thing his grandson had the sense to pack the night before.

Six minutes later Yami was bounded down the steps, a large duffle bag slung over his shoulder. "I'm ready to go!"

"It's about time! I thought I was gonna haveta wait all day!"

"Sorry Joey," the teen said, grinning up at his tall, blonde friend, Joey. "Now let's say we get this show on the road."

"Ah, campin'!" Joey exclaimed. "A weekend away from parents and civilization. Jus' three guys and the great outdoors! Though speakin' of three guys, we still gotta pick up Tristan."

Nodding, Yami walked outside and tossed his bag into the back of his friend's rather dilapidated red truck. Joey had saved up for years to buy the thing, and to celebrate its purchase, he was taking his two best friends out into the woods for their first unsupervised camping trip.

A wide grin settled onto the short teen's face. Like Joey said, no parents, no city, no worries, just them and the wilderness for two days, it was going to be a blast. Besides, what could possibly go wrong?

* * *

It didn't like it. It didn't like it at all.

It had been 11 cycles of sleeping and waking since the doctor, the one that talked to him, _its_ doctor had left, and it didn't like the way things were ever since. The new doctor rarely talked to it and when the doctor did, it treated it like it was stupid. And the other doctors had never talked to it beyond telling it what to do in the first place. The new doctor didn't even give it puzzles.

And frankly, it was... what was that word? Bored. It was very, very bored. All the doctors made him do what play strategy games, practice fighting, eat, fight, play strategy games, sleep, then wake up to do the same thing all over again. _Its_ doctor had made it do obstacle courses that constantly changed, had given it puzzles, had _taught_ it. It hadn't learned a thing since the new doctor came. And it was- It was feeling- it felt like- It wanted to hit something!

The feelings that were welling up inside it weren't ones that it would have felt before, before its doctor had gone away, before its doctor had said those things. But now, now it had come to a revelation. The doctors weren't life. They couldn't be. Not really.

Sure they supplied it with food, and water and probably air. But it knew that away, in the places that were there and not here, it could get food and water and air by itself. The only reason it needed the doctors because they had put him here in the first place.

It had decided that they weren't life when the new doctor had taken away its futon as 'punishment', whatever that was. Its doctor had said that no one had the right to take away its futon, but the doctors had. And its doctor had said that people who took away its things were bad, and life wasn't bad. The doctors were bad, and therefore couldn't be life.

There was nothing it could do about it though, because the doctors still supplied what it needed to have life, and as long as it was here it would be so. If only it could get away, then it wouldn't need the doctors... but it didn't know how. Because no matter how many times it asked, the doctors wouldn't answer its questions.

The urge to hit something grew, and suddenly, in an strong surge of that feeling that came with being bored it grabbed the edged of the holographic game board and heaved. The metal screamed horribly and it joined in, enjoying the feeling of relief it brought as the sound tore itself from its throat. Pulling free from the floor, the table was pitched across the room where it shattered against the wall.

The new doctor's voice boomed from the ceiling. "What are you doing?!"

It kept screaming, screaming and screaming without breathing. It could go on for so long without needing more air, so it just screamed. Screamed and moved to the toilet. Drawing back its leg it then smashed its foot into the toilet's stainless steel basin. Something cracked in its foot, followed by a strange twinge, but it was much more interested in the sound of the toilet being torn from the wall and colliding with the opposite wall.

"Stop it!" the doctor shouted. "Stop screaming!"

It didn't. It kept screaming, and started to punch and kick the walls, ignoring the small cracks that came now and then, even though they were accompanied by an odd tingling in his hands and feet. It didn't care, because now, now it wasn't bored.

* * *

"Doctor Keith! Doctor Keith!" one scientist was yelling at the new Head Scientist. "What should we do? If this goes on much longer the project might seriously hurt him- itself!"

Narrowing his eyes, Doctor Keith glared down at the spazzing project. "Electrify the room."

The scientist's eyes widened. "S-sir?"

"Do it!"

* * *

As its fist collided with the wall, creating a small dent, it was accompanied by a large spark. Suddenly a tingling wave washed over its body, small arcs of electricity jumping being its flesh and the walls and the floor.

It didn't understand what was happening. What was this feeling? Why was lighting coming out of the walls? What?

"What?!" it shouted. The tingling feeling grew and its limbs started to jerk about, out of its control. The spasms worsened as the feeling grew and suddenly it was on the ground twitching madly.

It tried to force its body back under control, its eyes beginning to water from the horrible, horrible tingling. Getting a hold of its mouth and throat for a moment it yelled at the top of its lungs, "WHAT?!"

And then it was screaming for a very different reason.

* * *

"D-doctor Keith, shouldn't we stop?"

"Not while its still conscious! Increase the voltage!"

"But sir! We might kill it!"

"Increase the voltage!" Keith knew, he just _knew_ that if he let it get away with things it'd destroy them all. It needed to learn discipline, punishment. It needed to know who was boss around here. It had freaked out, directly disobeyed his orders, and now it had to learn what happened when you messed with _him_! "Do it! NOW!"

* * *

So this was pain. It had to be, there wasn't anything else it _could_ be but pain. But it was nothing like what it had felt when it had been deprived of air and water and food. No, this was much worse. It was so much worse, it couldn't began to describe it. And the pain kept growing.

And then a sort of haze settled over its mind, a strange calm that made the pain seem so very far away allowing it to think. Pain. The doctors were causing it pain. Its doctor had said that people who hurt it were bad, had said it in such a way that it was sure that causing pain was much worse than taking its belongings. And its doctor had said to never let anyone hurt it. _Never_.

There was pressure building at the back of its mind, the more the pain grew, the more it grew, the more it thought, the more it grew. Pain. Bad. Stop. Never. Doctors. Bad. Pain. _Never!_

And suddenly, it wasn't touching the floor anymore, or the walls, and though the pain was dying away, the pressure continued to build.

"_NEVER!"_

* * *

The scientists stared, stunned as the project rose from the floor, floating centimeters above the ground. Electricity attempted to jump to its flesh but collided with an invisible force, dancing around its figure like the inside of a plasma ball. And if you looked close enough you could see what the bolts crashed against, a nearly invisible shell. A sphere of protection, like some sort of ghostly bubble.

Then there was another sort of electricity in that room, a violet lightning that flashed from equally violet eyes. It blazed out, touching the orb of protection, staining it visible. And then the orb was expanding.

The first thing it touched was the floor, and as the sphere grew the metal of it was pulled up, twisted, bits and pieces tossed about. And about the bubble grew a whirling maelstrom of metal and electricity.

Doctor Keith watched in horror as the storm of energy came closer, and he opened his mouth to speak his last word.

"Fu- "

The world exploded around him.

* * *

Yami was jolted out of his slumber by a distant booming sound. Blinking he asked, "Did you hear that?"

Tristan to look at him, raising a dark eyebrow. "Hear what?"

The short teenager shook his head, running a hand through his spiky, tri-colored locks. "Nothing, it's nothing..."

And with that, he went back to sleep. They still had a ways to drive.

* * *


	3. Reborn

**Yami is Life**

Disclaimer: I should make up a disclaimer song. All "These are not my characters, summat, summat, summat, I only made this plot, and stuff and things!" ...maybe not then.

A/N: Stuffles... Shounen-ai/yaoi. Yami/Yugi, Bakura/Ryou and possibly Seto/Joey. AU, OOC-ness, will be using mostly American-type names, cause tis be the version I get. Some swearing!

Three cheers to Silvershadowfire, Nekostar 2, It'sHardToBelieve, Latias gang (Sorry 'bout that), lucidscreamer, Yami-Yugi3, Hero Genkaku (It's complicated. Heh.), Panseru, Maryna, Thyrin (I've had this title for too long to change it. Heh, then there's the fact that it fits really well), bast4 (Answers to all that and more – okay, maybe less – in this chapter!) and Zoe (Well, it's off hiatus now) for reviewing this poor little fic that is my third most ignored of all of them (by myself)!

Rewrite!

Reborn:

Maximillian Pegasus stared at the man in front of him, eyes narrowed dangerously. His words were laced with venom as he spoke: "What did you say?"

"S-sir," the man said, trembling slightly. "Sennen Lab, the one in the mountains, was destroyed."

"What do you mean, destroyed?!" the silver-haired man snapped.

"Completely vaporized. And everything around where it was for a radius of half a kilometre," the man clarified. "There was nothing left."

To say that Pegasus was pissed would be the understatement of the century. No, he was beyond pissed. He had a special interest in that lab, and to find that it had been destroyed, _vaporized_, was unacceptable. He refused to believe that all had been lost.

"Do you have any idea what happened?"

"The computers were still recording and transferring data to our main database when the incident happened. It appears the phenomenon that destroyed the base originated from level five..." The man trailed off.

A calculating look had replaced the enraged one on Pegasus' face. "Level 5... I visited there not too long ago. A most interesting project on that level, I believe you called it Game King? Would the records happen to show that the event originated from that area?"

"I- sir! The power it would take to create that much destruction... The Game King doesn't- didn't exhibit the capabilities!"

"My dear man," Pegasus spoke. "There are many things that a human mind is capable of that few ever 'exhibit'. And the Game King is far beyond a mere human. It is quite possible that this... reaction was a self defence mechanism, and if so, it may still be alive."

The silver haired man turned his chair to face the wall-length window that over-looked the city. "Send out a search party immediately to comb the forest surrounding the site. If it's still alive, it couldn't have gotten far."

* * *

Violet eyes blinked open, staring blindly at the ground. It shook its head slightly, focussing on the floor displayed between its parted legs. Only... it didn't _look_ like the floor... it was all brown and gritty and full of bits of stuff. Something black darted across the patch of strange floor, and it recoiled and yelped.

The black stopped suddenly, and it got a closer look at it. It looked familiar somehow...

"A... beetle?" it said out loud, and the now identified little black thing darted off. Its doctor had taught it all about the living organisms of Earth. But what was a beetle doing here? Beetles and organisms all... lived...

It became suddenly aware of its surroundings, staring wide-eyed at the trees and ferns that enclosed it. "...Away."

It remembered now, the new doctor, the boredom, the _pain_ and then... nothing. It had escaped. It _must_ have, because it wasn't here anymore, wasn't with the doctors, it was away, only now away was _here_ and the place with the doctors was somewhere else, and it was _free._

And then all the fuzziness remaining in its head washed away and its senses were assaulted with the sights and noises and scents of this place. There were so _many_ new things, all layered on top of each other. The noises it could handle, there weren't so many of those, birdsong like the clips its doctor had played, and a _whooshing_ that rustled through the trees was just moving air. It could handle the sights, the strange trees that rose up high above him and the vegetation, all were things the doctor had taught it of.

But the _smells_-! There was nothing that could have prepared it for that. The only scents it new were those of itself, and of the futon and of metal and plastic, nothing more. But here, here there were so _many_ and they were so _strong_.

There was a burning sensation in its nostrils and a slight ache in its temples, though neither were enough to be considered real pain. Overwhelmed by the onslaught it staggered to its feet, ignoring the twinges and numbness in its limbs. Moving forward, it stumbled, have lost all feeling in one foot, but that didn't stop it and so it started to run. It had to get away from all the _smells._

It then started to realize that it had nowhere to run. I didn't know where it was, or where to go, or how it could ever escape the smells. It thought it could escape, thought it could live without the doctors. Thought it could get its own food and water. But it didn't know _how_, it didn't know what to _do,_ and there was _no one_ just trees and trees and trees!

It stopped running suddenly, and trembled. There was no one. It had always thought it only had itself, that all it needed was itself, but no, it was wrong. Because there was always the doctors, always someone. The doctors were always there, but now they weren't and for the first time ever it was _alone._

The trembling increased and for some reason water began to fill its eyes. It was free, but it was alone. And it was wrong, itself wasn't all it needed, in needed someone, but there was no one now, no one to help it, no one to keep it alive. The doctors had been life in a way, but they couldn't be life, not anymore. It didn't want them to be. But it needed someone, but there was no one. And so it sobbed.

It stood in one place for a while, sobbing. It had never done this before, didn't know why it was making the strange wailing noises, or why salty water was pouring from its eyes. All it knew was that it made it hard to breath and it scared it and that just made it happened more. It forced itself to take deep breaths, and eventually calmed down.

Flopping down onto the gritty, mossy ground it stared dejectedly at the ground, refusing to think about how it was alone for fear of another one of those fits. Something chattered at it and it looked over to see a small, furry animal – a squirrel? Sitting on a tree stump.

"What to do?" it asked the squirrel.

The creature chattered again and set off up a tree, and its gaze followed the bouncing mammal. It went up and up and up and-

The breath froze in its chest and its eyes widened. Then it started to scream.

* * *

"Joey," Yami said, panting for breath. "Please explain why the campsite you chose is _50 freakin' kilometres from the place where we parked the truck?!"_

"Stop overreacting, man!" the tall blonde teen replied. "It ain't anywhere _near_ that far!"

"Well it certainly feels like it when you're carrying the damned _tent_ on your back!"

Tristan and Joey laughed, hefting their own loads of supplies, while the reddish-eyed youth glared daggers at them. Some friends _they_ were, making the bloody smallest of them carry what was probably the heaviest thing they packed.

"C'mon, _Yami-kins_," his friend teased, golden-brown eyes twinkling. "You could use the exercise."

"...the kuribos will eat you in your sleep," Yami muttered. He hated pet names.

"I'm terrified," Tristan said.

"As right you _should_ be! No one can withstand the cute and fuzzy death that is a hoard of enraged kuribos!"

The trio continued to banter on about duel monsters and other things until Joey stopped suddenly and announced, "We're here!"

"Here where?" Tristan asked.

"Our campsite!"

Yami looked sceptically at the area before him. It didn't look much different from the rest of the forest around them as far as he could tell. Whatever. With a grunt, the short teen heaved his burden onto the ground, and took a few deep breaths.

"Alright," the blonde haired youth began, "Yami help me set up the tent-"

"Oh no!" the dark-haired teen interrupted. "I just carried that thing who-know-how-far, I am _not_ going to set it up."

And that was how he ended up on firewood duty.

"I am going to kill them," Yami muttered to himself. "I'll wait 'til they're all nice and cozy in that cursed tent and then I'll strangle them in their sleep..."

You wouldn't think that it'd be hard to find firewood in a forest, no, what with all the freakin' trees. But he wasn't allowed to chop any of the damn things down, and apparently someone had been to the campsite before and picked the place clean.

Following the small river than ran past their campsite, the spiky haired teen glanced around for stray logs. He wasn't sure how far he had wandered from where they were camping, but as long as he stayed next to the river he should be fine.

He kicked idly at a rock, then swore when it turned out to be more firmly rooted than he thought. Dropping his sparse bundle of wood he bent down, hopping on one foot, and snatched up the rock before pitching it as far as he could. It landed in the river with a _ploosh_.

Favouring his injured toe, he looked up at the sky and shouting, "What the hell else can go wrong?"

On the good side, nature didn't decide to spite him and started raining, on the bad side, it was about that time that he heard the screaming.

Startled, he stopped moving, holding his breath. Oh yeah, that was definitely screaming. Listening harder he pinpointed the direction it was coming from and set off running.

Sneakers pounding the dirt, Yami sprinted steadily towards the sound, stopping now and then to make sure he was still going the right way. Whoever it was had one hell of a set of lungs, because he hadn't heard them stop screaming yet.

He found the person huddled under a tree, and he approached cautiously, wincing fiercely at the assault on his ears.

It was a he, that much was made obvious given the person's complete lack of clothes. A boy, smaller than himself, with strangely pale skin and an even stranger total absence of any body hair, even eyelashes. He was curled up on himself, hands covering his bald scalp protectively while his eyes were clenched tightly shut. Tears streaked his pallid cheeks and his pale pink lips were stretched wide as he continued to scream.

"Hey!" Yami tried shouting. "Kid!"

The reddish-eyed teen was staring at the boy's hands. They were _wrong_, fingers bent in ways that obviously meant they were broken. His feet were in much the same condition and on several parts of his body were red streaks that might have been burns.

_Holy shit_, he thought to himself, _what the hell happened to this kid?_

Naked and injured in the middle of the forest, it made absolutely no sense. Had someone dragged the boy out here and raped him or something? But there was no blood and no bruises, though that didn't necessarily mean anything...

"Hey, kid!" he shouted again, then reached out a hand to touch the screaming boy's arm. "Calm down!"

Clenched eyes shot open at Yami's touch, and the teenager had a glimpse of violet eyes before deceptively skinny arms wrapped around him in a vice-like grip, clinging to him as though for dear life.

* * *

It hadn't been aware of the other being at first, too caught up in its screaming, in its denial of reality. Because it had looked up, and when it did it had looked into nothingness. Up was filled by an endless blue that stretched up and up and up and never stopped and there was nothing above him. No ceiling, just... air. It had to go up to outer space, the black void its doctor had told it about where nothing could live.

And it had panicked, because there was nothing above it, nothing to stop it from going up if it ever started. What if it jumped and it just kept going up until it died and was lost in that endless blue nothing. Compared to that, it was just a speck and it knew that if it had the chance the endless blue would swallow it up and it would be nothing.

That was why it was now curled beneath a tree, back pressing into the trunk, and fiercely denying the existence of what was – or in this case, wasn't above it. So fierce was its denial, that it didn't notice the other being until it touched it.

At that point its eyes had shot open and stared into purple-red eyes. It new what it was, the doctor had taught it. A human. The dominant species of Earth. It was supposed to look like a human itself. The doctor had told it that all the doctors were humans. The doctors were someone, the doctors were human, humans were someone. This human was someone. It wasn't alone.

All this passed through its mind in under a second, and without another moments thought, it threw itself forward and anchored itself to the human. The human lived here, it would know what to do, it wouldn't let him fall into the blue emptiness. The human would keep it alive as the doctors had before.

This human, with its purple-red eyes would be its new life.

With an overwhelming feeling of relief, it passed out.

* * *

Joey and Tristan had just finished setting up the tent, after many hardships, when they heard familiar footsteps approaching.

Turning to look at his short friend, the tall blonde grinned, "Finished gettin' the firewood are we?"

"Not exactly," Yami said and stood there as his friend's stared at him.

Or more specifically at the boy cradled in his arms, his black coat wrapped about otherwise naked flesh.

"Look what I found."

* * *


	4. Goose Chase

**Yami is Life**

Disclaimer: I should make up a disclaimer song. All "These are not my characters, summat, summat, summat, I only made this plot, and stuff and things!" ...maybe not then.

A/N: Stuffles... Shounen-ai/yaoi. Yami/Yugi, Bakura/Ryou and possibly Seto/Joey. AU, OOC-ness, will be using mostly American-type names, cause tis be the version I get. Some swearing!

Three cheers to Panseru, SoulDreamer, Silvershadowfire, Ragna01, deranged black kitten of doom, Latias gang, Zoe and anyone I missed. Apologies for misspelled names.

Didn't you know it? All the times with Yugi and the doctors they were actually speaking in a highly sophisticated code language comprised of the words and grammar of a multitude of other languages. Spiffy, isn't it?

And... my titles suck when they don't present themselves. XD;;

Goose Chase:

Joey poked fiercely at the fire with a stick, then watched the charred wood crackle and break. He shot a glance at the tent where Yami's little 'acquisition' was currently sleeping. He didn't like this one bit, something about the situation smelled funny... You didn't just find hairless, naked boys in the middle of the woods.

Tristan was watching his blonde friend's brooding with a questioning look, absentmindedly roasting a marshmallow. He turned slightly as he heard the tent flap behind him unzip, his short companion exiting.

"I've bandaged him up as well I can," the reddish-eyed youth spoke. "He didn't wake up through any of it. But we really need to get him to a hospital as soon as possible, his hands and feet are a mess. The little first aid training I have is little help, especially with what we have to work with..."

Glancing up at the quickly darkening sky, the tall brunette said: "We'll have to wait until tomorrow. No way we're gonna be able to carry everything _and_ a knocked-out kid back to the truck in the dark."

"You think we should actually bring that back?" Joey asked, glaring up at his friends.

"What the hell, Joey?" Yami responded. "You wanna leave some kid poor kid in the forest to die?"

"All I'm saying is that it's awfully weird to just find some naked kid in the middle of the mountains!" the blonde put in. "I mean... and he doesn't have a single hair on him! Not even eyelashes. It isn't natural!"

"Yeah well, maybe he's a victim of hazing gone too far or something," the short teen retorted. "But... Hell Joey! How could you think of _leaving_ him?!"

"Hazing, right. And what about the tattoo on the back of his neck?"

"Eh?" Yami stared at his friend in confusion. "Tattoo?"

"Didn't ya see it? It's one of those Egyptian eyes, like SennenCorp's logo." Joey gestured wildly with his slightly burnt stick. "I bet he's some creepy cyborg or something built to take over the world. They probably _want_ us to take it back!"

Tristan and Yami stared at the blonde, speechless.

"...Alright," the tall brunette said. "_You_ are never watching the Terminator movies again."

"Ever," agreed the shortest of the trio.

"I'm serious, guys! Everyone knows that SennenCorp is involved in a bunch of creepy stuff. They'd be shut down if anyone could get enough solid evidence!"

"Yeah, sure. Maybe like six-legged chickens and laser guns." Yami glanced over his shoulder at the tent. "But you don't create people."

* * *

It awoke to the sound of voices and a strange crackling sound. Blinking its eyes open it found itself staring up at a strange orangey material only a few meters up. Sitting up carefully it glanced around, trying to figure out where it was.

It was a strange little room, all made of that orange material. Perhaps the human, its new Life, had taken it here?

Well, wherever this new here was, at least it had a ceiling like any proper place should. It shuddered in remembrance of the horrible blue emptiness that had stretched on forever. Now that it had that train of thought over with, it could move on to more important things.

The ache in its head and nose that all the new smells had subsided, though there were no less smells, its body having become accustomed while it was unconscious. But there was still that odd numbness in its hands and feet... Upon inspecting its appendages it found them to be covered in some sort of cloth. The cloth was tied tight enough that it couldn't bend its fingers, perhaps it was cutting off the circulation and that was causing the numbness? But no... concentrating on the limbs it suddenly became aware that its body was active... knitting together bone...? It had broken its feet and fingers?

Well, that would account for the cracks it had been aware of during its fit. No worries there, it could feel the bones healing and they'd be well soon enough.

Next order of business was, what exactly was _on_ it? Staring down itself it found itself draped in fabric. Well... perhaps not draped, the article appeared to be fabricated to fit something with an anatomy like itself, possessing holes for a head, two arms and a space for the legs or waist to exit. It must have been created for humans, though why they would wear something like this... it was loose and restricted a full range of movement, the thing would have reached its mid-thigh had it been standing.

It was struggling to pull the large fabric-thing over its head when it heard a strange almost buzzing noise. It dropped the thing and looked to see a hole appearing in the side of the room! A figure entered and through the new opening, and though it had only seen this human once it had already memorized its scent and knew those red-purple eyes.

"Life!" It shouted.

* * *

When Yami had opened the tent and gone in, the last thing he had expected was to be yelled at and then have a small boy attach himself to his waist. But that was exactly what had happened. He didn't even think what the boy had yelled was English.

Just as suddenly as the boy had, well, glomped him, he let go and sat back, legs spread wide. Averting his reddish eyes, the teenager wished they had thought to put more than one of Tristan's spare t-shirts on the kid. Though the kid didn't seem to be aware of what he was showing off.

He was about to introduce himself when the boy started babbling away. The only words he made out were 'what' and 'here'. The rest was complete nonsense to him. Though... he was quite sure that he had heard some French and German, maybe Japanese in there... What the hell was the boy speaking?

"Hey, whoa, wait a minute!" Yami said. "Slow down for a second."

The kid stopped and stared at him with those oh-so-violet eyes, waiting.

"Okay, that's better." Talking slowly, he asked, "Do you speak English?"

The boy tilted his head. "English?"

"Yeah, Eng-lish."

"What type of English?" the boy asked, speaking with a British accent. "European? Australian? Canadian? American?"

Yami blinked stupidly. The boy had adopted a different accent to match each of the cultures he had named. "Er... the same way I speak...?"

"Hey Yami!" Tristan poked his head in, causing the kid to squeak and back against the wall of the tent. "Whoa! The kid is awake?"

"No, you asstard," the short teen said sarcastically, "He's still out cold."

He received a light cuff to the head in answer, to which the tri-color haired teen retaliated with a swift elbow to the ribs.

Turning his attention back to the boy he put his hand to his chest and said, "I'm Yami and this is Tristan. What's you're name."

The pale child looked back and forth between the two, then pointed at the reddish-eyed teen, then seemed to consider his words. "You... are called Yami? And... the other is called Tristan?"

"Uh, yeah. Yami and Tristan. And you are?" The short teen couldn't help but notice that the boy now spoke in a near-perfect imitation of his own accent.

"I am... myself," the kid said, confusion lacing his voice, though it didn't seem to show on his face.

"Well, yes. But I mean what it your name?"

"I do not have a name," the boy said.

"What?" Tristan asked, "But everyone has a name. What did your parents call you?"

"Parents? These are... the organism or organisms from which you were created yes? I do not believe I have parents."

The two teenagers stared at the hairless boy before them, before the taller of the duo leaned over and whispered, "I think this kid is retarded or something."

"I am not," the child said, not sounding particularly offended. "My brain is working at maximum capacity."

"Um... right," Yami said, "We'll just be... outside for a bit. 'Kay? If you need anything, just call."

"Okay."

* * *

The two humans had left the room, closing up the room again. It assumed this meant that it should just stay here and so after wrestling out of the fabric-thing it lay down to think. The thing it was lying on was similar to its futon and very comfortable.

It was quite content with itself. It had learned that its new Life was called 'Yami'.

"Yami," it said happily, loving the feeling of the word on its tongue. The word meant 'Dark' in Japanese, it was quite sure. How interesting. "Yaaamiii..."

The presence of the other human had unnerved it at first. It had never encountered one organism, let alone _two_. But there had been more than one doctor after all – though only one had been _its_ doctor – and as long as its Life, no, _Yami_, was around, it could handle more than one person.

It was also annoyed that it hadn't done what its doctor had told it and asked questions. It had been a bit overwhelmed at the time and it would make sure that the next chance it got it would ask _plenty_ of questions, which would be easy, seeing how many it had.

There was little in the orange tent, and though it didn't need any more sleep it decided it might as well sleep as much as it could, seeing as it couldn't be sure when the next time it would sleep would be. And besides, while asleep, its body could concentrate more on making its bones better again.

As it drifted off into slumber it whispered out loud, "Yami is Life."

* * *

Joey poured water on the dying fire, mixed the ashes around, then dumped the rest of the bucket into the mess. The others had gone off to the outhouse to relieve themselves before bed, and he was alone with that... whatever-it-was. His lip curled at the thought of sharing a tent with the strange thing. It would probably murder them in their sleep.

His convictions that it wasn't human were only amplified when his friends had related the strange conversation with the 'boy', though they had only worried that he might be brain damaged or something. Right, it said it had no name and no parents... it obviously meant that it was made in a lab.

He picked up his charred stick and stared at its pointed end thoughtfully. Maybe he could... The blonde bit his lip. Maybe.

Making his way to the tent he slowly unzipped the door and raised the neon lamp he held in his other hand. The light fell across the pale figure of the thing.

"What the hell...?" It had removed Tristan's shirt and was curled naked on one of the foam mattresses. Why the hell had it done that?

It appeared to be asleep though, so he stepped carefully into the tent trying to make as little noise as possible. He kneeled down next to it, placing the lamp on the ground and grabbed the stick with both hands, gripping it tightly. Taking a deep breath he raised the stick and...

And looked down at its sleeping face. The breath caught in his throat, and he couldn't help but stare at it. It was so... innocent looking. All pale and smooth, eyes closed lightly and full lips in a light pout. Somehow it reminded him of the first time he had seen his little sister.

He flopped back onto the mattress and let out a breath. This was no killer robot, no creepy monster, and there was absolutely no way he could kill it. His hands began to tremble as he thought about what he had been about to do. Suddenly he flung the stick out the door, hoping never to see the thing again.

"Well, kid," the blonde said, "whoever or whatever you are, you're safe from me." He laughed slightly. "One heck of a self defence mechanism they gave ya."

"Hey Joey!" Tristan yelled from outside. "We're back!"

"Yeah, I'm in here," he answered. "Get in here, and let's all get some sleep like Yami's little buddy here."

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

Men in dark suits combed the blast site, swarming the devastated area. They had had to wait for the authorities to leave, the rangers and police having been attracted by such a large explosion. No doubt the area would be invaded by the military next morning. So they had to search the entire site and nearby surrounding area before then. And that was a lot of ground cover.

Gabe Winston cursed loudly as he tripped over a bit of rubble. He could've been back home with his wife, but no, he had been called out to go on a wild goose chase in the middle of the fucking night. He swung his high-powered flash to look at what he stumbled over. It was probably a piece of one of those fucking 'indestructible' tanks they had been working.

"Indestructible my ass," he muttered, then shouted, "Oi Harper, what the hell are they expecting us to find? There ain't nothing on Earth that could've survived an explosion like this!"

The man a few meters to his right merely shrugged.

"Buncha bastards," snarled Gabe. "Fucking goose chase is what it is..."

Something glittered in the dark of his peripheral version and he swung around shining the flashlight into the gloom. A cloud of dark spots hovered above the ground, swarming off into the air as the light hit it.

"You see somethin' Winston?" Harper called.

"Nah, just a bunch of fucking bugs."

"Kinda late in the year for bugs ain't it?"

"If it isn't snowing and there's no frost it's _never_ too late for the little fuckers. Nothing we need to report to the mini-bosses."

"Right."

Turning back around, Gabe continued on the futile search. The sooner it was done the sooner he could get home to Lila.

* * *


End file.
